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David Haller
David Haller is a schizophrenic mutant with immense psychic powers. He was recruited by Melanie Bird to join Summerland in the war between mutants and Division 3. David was also host to a parasitic being known as the Shadow King, which attempted to gain control of David's body and wield his power. Biography Early life When David was a baby, his biological father gave him to the Haller family. Mr. Haller and Mrs. Haller happily adopted David, and while their daughter, Amy Haller, originally believed it to be a dream she too accepted David into the family. Growing up David was never told of the adoption and believed that the Hallers were his biological family. David grew up in the country with the Hallers. Mr. Haller was an astronomer and would often take David into the forest to star gaze. On one of these trips David told Mr. Haller that the stars talked to him to which Mr. Haller replied that the stars spoke to him too, however while Mr. Haller meant it metaphorically David meant it literally. This was one of the first signs of David's biological father's actions coming to haunt him. David's biological father gave David up after psychically defeated a mutant known as Amahl Farouk or the Shadow King. However, the Shadow King's consciousness still lingered and found David, attaching himself like a parasite within the latter's mind. To exact revenge on David's father, the Shadow King used David's own power to make itself stronger, planning on seizing complete control of David's body to achieve this . The Shadow King began to manipulate David's memories and his perception of the world. He disguised himself as a beagle named King which would follow David around as a kid, however only David could see King. Farouk also disguised himself as one of David's childhood nightmares, The Angry Boy. A character from a book that Mr. Haller may have read to him called The World's Angriest Boy in the World. It is unsure if Mr. Haller actually read the book or if this is another memory trick from the Shadow King. Over time the psychological damage from having the Shadow King manipulate his memories took its toll on David's mental health. He became violent punching a peer at prom, he committed petty crimes, and was often publicly intoxicated. Around this time, David's mutant abilities also began to grow in power, shattering the windows of a police vehicle during one such incident. Sometime after this, he is diagnosed with schizophrenia. The diagnosis of schizophrenia was the most logical for David, not knowing about his mutant heritage. He often heard voices (people's thoughts) and saw things that weren't there (visions caused by Farouk). A psychiatrists prescribed David medicine which would help with schizophrenic symptoms and inadvertently dampened his abilities. Although David believed he could move things with his mind (something that he could achieve) he wrote this off as a delusion and a symptom of schizophrenia thus he never explored his powers. Dr. Henry Poole was David's therapist who would regularly see him. Although David would occasionally stop seeing Dr. Poole and stop his medication which led to a relapse in his behavior. Over the years, Henry slowly gained David's trust. David even told him what the stars said. During this time David graduated high school and attended college for some time before being expelled. After college he had a rough time but attempted to push through with the help of his girlfriend, Philly and his friend Benny. Philly, David, and Dr. Poole would eat dinner together. Philly believed that she could fix David but they would often fight a lot which made life harder. Unlike Philly, Benny encouraged the more violent side of David. Benny was a pusher and often committed petty thefts in order to buy a new drug called Vapor. One day Philly walked in on Benny and David using which led to David and her having a fight. Telling her that he didn't want to talk about it, David took refuge in the kitchen when his powers acted up causing the cabinets to explode and utensils to fly everywhere. Amahl also appeared at this time in the form of the Demon with the Yellow Eyes which only scared David more. Philly then returned to find David surrounded by kitchen objects and terrified. Scared as well Philly ended their relationship. David then turned to Benny who encouraged him to rob his therapist for drugs. David agrees to go through with it, attending more therapy session than usual about a week before the robbery. In one of these sessions David starts to tell Dr. Poole about the stars before the closet creeks open causing David to say "I'm not supposed to talk about that." Dr. Poole reassures David that there is nothing to be afraid of and closes the closet. David relaxes and tells Dr. Poole what the stars say. David then robs Dr. Poole, not only taking the drugs that are kept in his office and valuables but also destroys the tapes that recorded their sessions. During the heist Dr. Poole walks in and David beats him to near death, breaking his skull. Later David attempts to hang himself with a extension cord but when the police arrive all they could find were rope burns on his neck. This incident causes him to become institutionalized. Clockworks Hospital Six years later, David and Lenny met a new patient at Clockworks, a woman their age named Sydney Barrett. David immediately developed an attraction to Syd, and they began dating. Mysteriously, Syd refused to allow anyone to touch her in any way, not even her new boyfriend. Dr. Kissinger later stated that Syd had recovered, and she would be returned to her family. Impulsively, David kissed her good-bye, and he suddenly discovered why Syd had been so obstinate about being touched - Syd was a mutant, a human with uncanny abilities. In her case, she could switch bodies with other people through physical contact. Dr. Kissinger brought David (in Syd's body) to a nurse's office and treated him while Sydney in David's body was being held down by nurses. Sydney then lost control of David's powers causing the whole building to shake. After telling David to stay put, which he did not do, David and Kissinger returned to the Day Room to find all the patients were inexplicably trapped in their rooms. They also discovered all the furniture and doors were gone and Lenny trapped in a wall, dead. Dr. Kissinger then released David (still in Syd's body) from Clockworks, believing that Sydney would not get another chance to be released after the chaos died down. As Syd, he was escorted from Clockworks. Just before leaving, he spotted two cars. The passengers of one car included a mysterious older woman, Melanie Bird, while the other car carried a younger man, Ptonomy , and woman, Kerry, about David's age. He went into the city and stopped at an outdoor cafe. Two hours later, David's body own returned to him. He then went to his sister, Amy's, house. She agreed to let him stay for a few days with Ben, her husband, and her. Amy showed him to the spare bedroom in the basement. While unpacking David hallucinated Lenny (in actuality Amahl disguised as Lenny) who began a light hearted conversation with him which quickly becomes melancholic as he remembers she's dead. Lenny tells David that it's his fault she's dead. When he begins to protest that it was Syd using his powers, she retorts, "Don't give a newbie a bazooka and act surprised when she blows shit up.” Lenny then gleefully warns David that "They're coming and they're going to kill you!" Justifiably this scares David and he accidentally telekineticly throws his childhood lamp across the room. Amy comes down stairs after hearing the noise and sees David picking up the pieces of the lamp, worried about her brother and her own safety she removes the gardening tools from the basement. After taping the lamp back together David dreams about Sydney and the next morning becomes determined to find her. David goes to a pay phone and calls Clockworks inquiring about Sydeny only to be told she is not a patient there and never was. Before he can find out more the man (Ptonomy) and woman (Kerry) from Clockworks appear and begin to follow him. David is able to lose them in a busy plaza but right after is abducted by Walter and Division 3. Interrogation David then wakes up in a room where two men, Clark and Walter, sit across from him. They lie and tell David that they're with the police and want to get his statement about what occurred at Clockworks. David re accounts his story but becomes upset when he thinks Clark doesn't believe him about certain aspects such as the body swapping causing his powers to start shaking the pen that Clark was using to take notes. Clark calms him down and they hook David up to some machines to run tests while he continues. David then incorrectly re-accounts that it was Clark and not Melanie who was in the car outside of Clockworks. Clark tells him that this is not the case which upsets David and he sends the pen flying into Clark's face before destroying the table and sending equipment and people across the room knocking them unconscious. To prevent David from escaping Division 3 fills the room with a gas that knocks David out. When David awoke, he was tied to a chair and power cables in the middle of a swimming pool. Clark demanded to know where Syd was. Stating that they, Division 3, have him but want Sydney too. David continues reluctantly continues telling his tale and is met by Syd who was able to protect herself into his memories. She confirmed David's suspicions -- these men were not cops at all, but members of Division Three, a secret government agency that targeted mutants, and Syd intended to rescue him. She tells him to slowly slide out of his chair and into the water when he sees the lights. Once he was back in the moment, David looks around the room as he begins to see dancing lights appear in the air. Clark becomes frustrated with David's inability to tell him where Sydney is to which David replies that they're about to find out. Quickly sliding into the water, bullets are shot into the pool and Clark finds the switch to the power cables no longer in his hand right before the entire room explodes in flame. Dodging burnt corpses, David swims to the other end of the pool where Syd pulled him out and introduced him to two of her allies, the passengers of the second car at Clockworks - Ptonomy Wallace and Kerry Loudermilk. The four mutants escaped the facility with the aid of Rudy and are greeted by Dr. Melanie Bird who is the leader of a secret mutant refuge, called "Summerland".Chapter 1 Summerland When David arrives at Summerland he collapses into Cary Loudermilk's arms. The high concentration of powerful mutants in one place was making David sick and confining him to a be while hundreds of voices yelled and spoke in his head. Melanie sat next to him explaining that David's "symptoms" of schizophrenia were actually his mutant powers, specifically telepathy. She taught David how to use his telepathy allowing him to finally gain some peace from the voices. The next day Melanie brought him to see Ptonomy to begin memory work. Ptonomy is a memory artist which allows him and whoever he chooses to go back through a person's memories. Using this ability Melanie, David and Ptonomy are able to look back through David's life and see that every instance of mental illness was just his powers and also gain a better understanding of what triggers them. Ptonomy takes David back to his childhood. They explore his memories of planting with his mother and star gazing with his father. David reveals that Mr. Haller died the year before and Clockworks wouldn't release him to attend the funeral. However things begin to go south as they observe Mr. Haller reading young David a bed time story. David is unable to see Mr. Haller's face and instead listens to the horrify bed time story called The World's Angriest Boy in the World, a picture book about a boy who beheads his mother for trying to send him to bed. The room begins to shake and David panics waking up from the memory in a hysterical state. To calm him, Ptonomy puts him to sleep. David then wakes up in another room of Summerland with Ptonomy sitting near by. Ptonomy comforts him by saying the first time was always the hardest and offering him some milk. Ptonomy then says that he needs to do talk work with Melanie to figure out what it all means and that Melanie thinks David is the key to winning the war. Ptonomy also presses for more information about The World's Angriest Boy in the World but David is reluctant to talk about it and the subject drops. David then confides in Syd that he doesn't believe the memory work is helping. Syd tells him it will and to give it time. She then confides in him about what it was like in his body and apologizes for killing Lenny. David expresses his desire to have physical contact with her however Sydney says that the closer she gets to someone the more uncomfortable it is. David accepts this. Melanie, Ptonomy, and David continue with the memory work. They watch a memory of David attending a session with Dr. Poole where david re-accounts why Philly finally ended their relationship, while leaving out key details. During the conversation there is a glitch. Next they look at a memory of Lenny (who should have been Benny but David's memory was altered so all instances of Benny were replaced with Lenny) and David selling a kitchen range to the Greek for drugs. They then get high in his apartment and when David looks over at Lenny he instead sees the Devil with the Yellow Eyes. Ptonomy pauses the memory and Melanie asks David about what he sees. David is reluctance to say excusing it as what you see when you're high or a symptom of schizophrenia however Melanie refuses to believe this. Ptonomy changes the subject to the glitch in the previous memory. David protests that he's trying to remember everything and not inhibiting his therapy. Ptonomy is able to fix the glitch and allows the trio to see the kitchen explosion. Melanie asks David about it however David says he doesn't know anything. Ptonomy attempts to travel to that memory but he's unable blaming this on David resisting him. David once again protests that he isn't resisting anything. Suddenly they are in David's childhood bedroom and Ptonomy is unable change the memory. The door then slams as the room begins the shake violently causing The World's Angriest Boy in the World book to fall off the shelf and David to become terrified again. Later Sydney and David talk. Sydney says Melanie wouldn't tell her what happened during memory work and David brushes it off as kid stuff. Syd expresses her concern that David isn't happy at Summerland but David reassures her it is as long as they're safe. He then reads Syd's thoughts that she'd protect him if they weren't. Later, in an attempt to discover where David's memories are stored Cary Loudermilk places him into an MRI machine, while at the same time conversing with Kerry, who David was not aware of at the time. Before starting, Cary stated that David had an extremely large amygdala, and that he should think about someone he loves. During the scan David hears a woman calling his name but Cary and Kerry say that no one was calling his name. David realizes it's his sister he can hear and it isn't a memory. David then watches as Amy attempts to ask a Clockwork employee for her brother however the employee replies that David Haller was never a patient there nor was Dr. Kissinger a doctor at Clockworks. David sees Walter and Division 3 coming up behind his sister and calls out to her right before she's taken. Back in the lab during this experience, David's brain lights up due to neural activity. Cary asks what happened as he had never seen anything like this before. David tells him he heard his sister and Cary tells David not to move and exits the room in a hurry. Now alone, David begins to panic and The Devil with the Yellow eyes appears terrifying David who is trapped in the MRI machine. As his fear builds to a climax he is suddenly laying on the floor of the lab the MRI machine no where in sight. As it turns out, he teleported it outside. David prepared to leave the others and rescue Amy, but Syd persuades him to stay and further develop his powers through the memory work. David is concerned that Division 3 kill his sister but Sydney assures him they won't because she is the bait.Chapter 2 David tells Dr. Bird about his sister, who decides that memory work had to be accelerated, to do this they would focus on the big events. Ptonomy, Melanie, and David further explored the memory of the day he destroyed his kitchen. Melanie explained that David was not only a telepath, but also had telekinesis as evidenced by the flying kitchen utensils. The next step was to find what triggered David into using his powers. David takes the group to when Philly walked in on David using drugs. Melanie points out it was only when David felt trapped did his powers kick in. David begins to feel uncomfortable but Melanie encourages him to continue. However when Ptonomy tries to continue the memory he is unable to. At this same moment the Devil with the Yellow Eyes appear which terrifies David. Neither Ptonomy nor Melanie can see the Devil but they do see the kitchen door violently slam. They then ask David what happened but he doesn't remember. Ptonomy attempts to play the memory again but something resists him before the trio is brought out of his memory and into reality. Not only were they out of David's memory but they had teleported 600ft through two solid walls and back into the main building of Summerland. After the failed memory work, David takes some time to himself and sits on a dock. Sydney soon joins him and they begin sharing facts about their childhoods as well as what it was like during the body swap. Sydney also explains how she's come to accept that her power allows anyone into her body. Later, Dr. Loudermilk hooked David up to a few electrodes in an attempt to model his brainwaves and take hormone readings. He asks David to think of something stressful, and David relived a boyhood Halloween, when all of sudden, the scene changed dramatically: his dog, King, ran away and he wandered into a somber field, where he came face to face with the title character of The World's Angriest Boy in the World. After a while Cary asks David through the intercom if everything is okay however David does not respond but the speech center of his brain is active. In actuality David believes he's responding but Amahl Farouk is playing a mind trick on him. As Lenny, Farouk, taunts David that Division 3 could be "gang banging" his sister while he's in therapy and also warns him of trusting Melanie. The Shadow King's words upset David and trigger his powers. David then causes the glass to crack, and a malfunction to occur. Syd then enters the room to help him but instead David teleports/astrally projects both himself and Sydney to the cell where Amy is being held. They watch Amy being terrorized by Division 3, with Brubaker telling her about her brother's powers and tried to coerce Amy into helping them find David and "turn him off". Suddenly, Walter notices them and reaches for the spectral David and Syd. Fortunately, the pair vanished and materialize in the middle of the lake. The two tell Melanie, Cary, and Ptonomy what they had seen. Melanie recognized the agent - his name was Walter, a former ally of Melanie's husband Oliver when Summerland was founded. David demands that they rescue his sister but Melanie explains that he could not go back to Division 3 for risk of exposing himself or all of them. She tells David that his brain seems to be defending itself, refusing to allow them access to certain memories. Melanie also expresses her concern that the memory work is only making things worse. She elaborates that she isn't giving up on David though because he's to important and she wants to fix him because he deserves to be healthy and happy and then she wants to use him to win the war. To combat the resistance they're facing, Melanie suggests that David be sedated temporarily so she could have unfiltered access to his mind so get a better understanding of his powers. Syd declares that she's going into his memories too. The night before the sedation Sydney finds David in the bathroom, hiding. David tells her that he's worried about what may happen to Sydney in his memories. However Syd tells him that she'll be fine as it was her who rescued him from a pool surrounded by agents with guns. David elaborates that he was not a good person before they met. He lied. He stole. He was high all the time. David was worried that after seeing his past, Sydney would no longer love him. Syd says that she loves him and because of that there was nothing else to say. The following morning Syd, Ptonomy, and Melanie all enter david's mind. The sedation kept David's rational mind from entering the memory landscape, and so he manifested as a young boy. Since Syd's powers did not work outside the physical world, David and Syd were able to embrace for the first time.As they progress through the memory the group finds themselves watching David rob Dr. Poole. However soon things turn for the worse. First Sydney notices the room shaking as though caused by heavy footsteps. Next she sees flashes of David eating recording tape. Syd points both of these things out to Ptonomy and Melanie but neither notice these things. Finally a red crack appears in one of the office's walls and long fingered hands attempt to claw their way out. This understandbly unsettles Syd and demands that they have to go. Ptonomy and Melanie are not aware of what is occuring but agree to Sydeney's plees. But when Ptonomy attempts to exit the memory he finds he can't. Child David then runs out of the room and is followed by Sydney who calls after them. The run through different memories of David becoming high and even of David having sex with Philly. Eventually, they find themselves in David's childhood bedroom. Sydney asks child David where he hides where no one can find him and leads her into the hallway of his childhood home. While child David begins opening up a vent, Sydney notices that The Angry Boy is in the hallway as well. Quickly the duo climb into the vent and hide but the Demon with the Yellow Eyes is right behind them. Syd urges David to wake up, and Syd is returned to reality. She then wakes up Ptonomy and shortly after Melanie joins them but remains under--trapped within his own mind.Chapter 3 Astral Plane With David not waking up, Cary preforms several tests on his body to try and determine what occurred. There was no medical reason for David's coma and he was not brain dead as his mind was active. Ptonomy searched his memory and his subconscious but could not find David's mind. Realizing that part of David's power was being able to create a mental projection space somewhere between reality and dream they concluded that he was trapped in the astral plane. In the Astral Plane, David gains consciousness and sees a figure dressed in a diving suit. The figure motions for David to follow them and leads him to a large floating ice cube. The Ice cube is exquisitely decorated in a modernist style. As David takes in his new surroundings, the figure disrobes revealing himself to be Oliver Bird, the husband of Melanie Bird. However, Oliver has been in the astral plane a long time and his memory alludes him. In the ice cube Oliver tells David that he is trapped in the Astral plane, a "no-place, where every day is the same, where you can imaginify yourself a kingdom but nothing is ever real."Chapter 4 Oliver also reassures him that his monster cannot find him in the ice cube an that it's a safe place. He alludes to the fact that Farouk makes David forget but David protests that there is no monster and it's just his psychology. David also states that he needs to leave and save his sister. Reluctantly, Oliver lets him return to the Astral Plane out side the ice cube telling David that the monster is not a metaphor and more like a parasite. David then begins to wander the subconscious land of the Astral Plane searching for a way out. As he wanders Farouk, disguised as Lenny, appears as well as the rest of his childhood bedroom. David is not in the mood to play "Lenny's" games and attempts to leave the illusion bedroom only to find himself walking right back into it every time. "Lenny" tells him that they need to talk and that he screwed up trusting the mutants of Summerland leading them to become stuck in this place. David tries to defend them, saying Oliver told him it wasn't their fault before asking who "Lenny" really is. "Lenny" responds by singing "I'm you. I'm me. I'm everything you want to be." She then changes the subject to the fact that they need to leave because everywhere David is, she's there too. To motivate David and activate his powers she shows him a image of what is occurring in the real world, where Sydney, Ptonomy, and Kerry are all unconscious in the back of a van driven by Walter to Division 3. What David does not realize is that Sydney and Walter have body swapped and that Syd, in Walter's body, is actually driving the mutants to safety. Return to Reality This does the trick and David activates his powers allowing him to enter the real world, stop the truck, and release Syd's body (which is being controlled by Walter) and gives her a knife. The real Syd wakes up in time to stop Walter from killing David before attempting to chase her and stop her. David, not realizing the body swap, tackles Walter's body to the ground as the two swap bodies back. Now with his own body Walter shoots Kerry in the shoulder before escaping. Chapter 4 Powers and abilities Powers= * Reality Warping: As one of the most known powerful mutants, David has the power to manipulate reality at will. When she switched bodies with David, Sydney Barrett was able to transport all the patients of Clockworks into their rooms, cause the doorways to disappear, cause Lenny Busker to be fused into the walls, and turning the lights in the building red, which she imagined seeing when she experienced a vision of the Shadow King. He was also capable of making bullets unable to harm him, allowing him to stand in front of a group of soldiers firing at him at point blank range, as well as bring several bullets fired at aim and Sydney to his hand, catching them with ease. David's powers possibly have been used subconsciously to cause some of what he imagined or believed to be real to become real enough to affect and interact with the physical world. This is potentially shown with the fact that people other than David interacted with Lenny despite her being a form of the Shadow King inside David's mind and were aware of her apparent death, as well as their being no sign of the wire that David attempted to hang himself, despite the rope burns on his neck, suggesting that he manifested the wire with his power. His reality warping power provide him with a number of different abilities. ** Chronokinesis: David was able to stop time when he and Syd were shot at by Walter. ** Energy Shield: During his fight with Shadow King controlled Kerry, David was able to generate a blue energy shield around himself. The shields collision with Kerry was strong enough to force Farouk out of her body. ** Sound Dampening: While under control of Farouk, David was able to mute all sound around and inside his childhood home. ** Teleportation: David can instantaneously transport himself and others from one location to another. He triggered this power whilst panicking during a MRI scan, teleporting himself and the machine outside of the Summerland facility . His sister Amy also recalled as a child, he would often suddenly appear in different places, such as finding him outside after having just left him in a bath. After discovering the truth of his power, David learned to have more control over it, allowing him to appear in the hallway that the Shadow King was attempting to escape through using Kerry Loudermilk's body, after having only seconds before been strapped to a medical table several rooms away. * Telekinesis: David can move and otherwise manipulate physical matter with his mind, often through the use of hand gestures. The power often manifests uncontrollably due to anger or stress. He once accidentally caused all the objects in his kitchen to fly around him after an argument with his girlfriend, Philly. After learning more about his power, he became more proficient at controlling it, allowing him to levitate several Division 3 soldiers and keep them suspended against nest each other to form an elaborate tower, while also sustaining the effect effortlessly. ** Levitation: David is able to move himself into the air using his powers, usually through concentration and meditation. * Matter Manipulation: David has been shown to be able to manipulate matter for various purposes, such as to fuse people inside solid matter, as Sydney did to Lenny Busker while inhabiting David’s body. The Shadow King would also make use of David’s powers to turn people into black smoke and sometimes leaving burned, bloody remains behind. David’s power was discreetly used by the Shadow King when a Division 3 soldier grabbed an escaping David, with the man’s head to emit black smoke as he collapsed dead with the sound of his bones snapping. David would use his power on a much larger scale during his raid on Division 3 headquarters, phasing several soldiers through the ground and disintegrating others in a flash of light. * Telepathy: David is able to read the minds of others, though he had trouble controlling it at first, causing him to hear thoughts at random and being led to believe they were part of his insanity. With Melanie's help and discovering the truth of his powers, he was no longer plagued by voices. ** Astral Manipulation: David has the power to project his consciousness and that of others outside the physical form. Through astral projection, David can intangibly observe the physical plane, or he can travel to the Astral Plane. Relationships |-|Familial= *Unnamed father *Unnamed mother *Mr. Haller - adoptive father *Mrs. Haller - adoptive mother *Amy Haller - adoptive sister *Ben - adoptive brother-in-law |-|Platonic= *Farouk - enemy *Benny - friend *Lenny Busker † - friend *Ptonomy Wallace - friend/ally *Kerry Loudermilk - friend/ally *Cary Loudermilk - friend/ally *Melanie Bird - friend/ally *Oliver Bird - friend/ally *Walter/The Eye † - enemy |-|Romantic= *Philly - ex-girlfriend *Sydney Barrett - girlfriend Trivia *In the comics, David is the son of Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller. His parentage has not been confirmed in the show yet, but his father is strongly implied to be Charles Xavier during the chalkboard sequence in Chapter 7. *In the comics, David was possessed by the Shadow King during the Muir Island Saga Uncanny X-Men #278-280X-Factor #69-70. *David played soccer as a young boy, and even won a trophy for his team . *David was born on a Thursday . *According to Cary, David has an extremely large amygdala . This is the part of the brain that processes memory, decision-making, and emotional reactions. Appearances Season 1= *Chapter 1 *Chapter 2 *Chapter 3 *Chapter 4 *Chapter 5 *Chapter 6 *Chapter 7 *Chapter 8 References External links * * Category:Hosts of Amahl Farouk Category:Males Category:Mutants Category:Season 1 characters Category:Season 2 characters Category:Summerland